CASE STUDY: Non-compliant PVC flexible cables

Case Study

Title: Non-Compliant PVC flexible cables

Cable Type/use: Non-compliant PVC house wiring, flex and conduit wires

Manufacturer/Distributor: Atlas Kablo/ Numerous

Origin: Turkey

Safety or Compliance Issue:

Reports of faulty cabling from electrical contractors in the UK led the ACI to test samples of product from Turkish cable manufacturer Atlas Kablo. The samples were found to have insufficient copper leading to high conductor resistance (On average the cables contained only 50% of the specified copper e.g. 1.5mm² was actually 0.8mm²) and did not comply with appropriate British Standards.

How Issue First Identified:

Market monitoring by an ACI supporter identified cable with insufficient copper.Cable Markings: (for 3x1sq.mm): TSE <HAR> ATLAS KABLO 3183Y HO5VV-F 3G 1SQMM 300/500V HD21.5 (TO BS 6500) 2010

Actions Taken:

Approval body contacted.Further affected cable types identified and tested, at which point the scale of the problem was revealed.Cable was quarantined at distributors and scrapped.

Outcomes:

BASEC (British Approvals Service for Cables) suspended Atlas Kablo’s BASEC licence for a serious decline in quality across its range of products.

The Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) suspended Atlas Kablo’s HAR scheme certification licence for H05VV-F flexible cables and the company became insolvent.

More than 11 million metres of the cable was recalled from the UK market; three million remains unaccounted for.

Lessons Learned:

Complexity of supply chain, reluctance of some distributors to act quickly.